The Seventh Year
by blueeyedmedee
Summary: It is Lily's last year with her best friends, Aspen and Tatem. As the year progresses love blooms, but will the impending Dark Lord threat take away what the girls have learned they can't live without. Lily/James, Sirius/O.C., Remus/O.C.
1. Chapter 1 Hogwarts Express

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. The wonderful world that is portrayed in my story is not mine, it is hers, as well as most of the characters I refer to.

Chapter One- Hogwarts Express

Lily wheeled her trolley onto Platform 9 and 3/4, and immediately began to search the large crowds of people for her two best friends, Aspen Willowman and Tatem Anderson. The scene before screamed chaos and even to a trained eye it would be difficult to find a single person in its masses. Students, whether excitedly returning for another year, or nervously awaiting the new experience before them, covered nearly every inch of the platform. The room they didn't take up was occupied by family members saying their last good-byes until Christmas, carts piled high with luggage, or cats roaming the crowds, weaving between legs and occasionally causing the less nimble to fall to the ground to avoid injuring the animals.

Giving up any chances of finding her friends immediately, Lily made her way to the nearest train entrance, knowing that if they weren't already there, soon her friends would be at the compartment that they always occupied. From the very first day any of them had attended Hogwarts they had met in that compartment and had immediately formed a strong, unbreakable bond of friendship.

Lily stared dauntingly up at the stairs leading into the train aisles. Taking a deep breath in order to prepare herself, she grabbed her trunk handle in one hand and her cat, Argyle's, cage in the other. With a heave, she managed to get the trunk off the trolley, but than began the tedious task of hauling it up the steps and down the aisles to the very back of the train. She could manage about an inch with each heave and could feel the beginnings of sweat forming in bead on her forehead.

_It's my fault_, she thought, with a frown. She and her best friends were the only people she knew who bought extra books than those required. Lily's own preferences as extra reading focused on medical magic, sporting titles such as Antibiotic Charms and Disease's A to Z and their Magical Cures. It was a secret, known only to her closest friends, that she wanted to become a nurse at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries after graduating, and not a Ministry of Magic worker as was expected from her by everyone.

Aspen's extra reading was focused on more materialistic matters, but also career focused. Her well-hidden dream was to open a boutique and magical clothing shop, with robes and casual wear. Naturally, she purchased titles reading Magical Make-up for Every Occasion , Get the Nails without the Mess, and Sewing and Manipulating Magic Materials. Most of their female peers would laugh if they knew that part of the "Bookworm" group (as she, Lily, and Tatem were called), aspired to such things, but Aspen still looked forward to the day her dream would be able to come true.

Lastly there was Tatem. Always the least confident in the group, she bought books, however not from Flourish and Blotts like her friends, rather from a Muggle bookstore. Since as long as she could remember, Tatem had struggled with a stutter except around her closest friends. Aspen and Lily were very protective of her for this reason, yet Tatem tried to be helpful for herself buying books such as The Confident Individual in YOU! and Turning H-H-Hello into Hi, How Are You- A Stutter Healing Guide.

Lily let out a slight gasp of surprise as she felt her trunk become easier to carry and turned around to see why.

"Hi Lily," Michael Shardon greeted her with a smile and a wave of his hand. His other hand held the other side of her trunk. "You looked like you could use a hand. How was your summer?"

Lily smiled back and began to continue down the train, the going a lot easier now that she didn't have to support all the weight of the trunk.

Michael was a Ravenclaw prefect, and in the past two years they had often patrolled together and were good friends, much to the jealousy of many girls who found Michael to be very attractive with his toned body, short brown hair, and chiseled facial features. Lily had always laughed to herself, wondering what these girls would do if they knew he was gay, something he had confided in Lily their 6th year.

"Good Michael," she responded cheerfully, thankful for the help. "I am glad to be back though. I can only take so much of my sister from hell at a time, and a summer was pushing it. How about yours?"

"Okay," he replied, with an amused grin. "My parents were trying to push me on different girls all summer. They are determined I should find the girl I am supposed to marry before I graduate."

Lily faced him letting out an appreciative laugh, finding humor in imagining girls hanging off of Michael all summer long. When she turned forward again, she found that she faced the last compartment in the train. One glance inside showed her that Aspen and Tatem hadn't arrived yet

After helping Lily put her trunk in place, she thanked Michael and he went his separate way. Lily took a seat and found herself staring out the window.

The compartment was at the back of the train so she couldn't see the platform, but she settled for watching birds playfully chase each other around on the beautiful September day. Her thoughts began to wander, and she was stuck with the ever present realization that this was their last year at the school that had become home. Her parents had died when was only twelve, and though living with her older sister was manageable in small doses, it was quiet and lonely. Petunia ignored her and refused to acknowledge that she was a witch. Lily was treated like an unwanted plaque, a reaction only intensified by both Petunia and her new fiance, Vernon Dursley. They hadn't had much in common to begin with. Lily was ten years younger than Petunia, and was laid back, where as her sister loved to look down her nose at everyone around her like she was superior to all.

Lily loved Hogwarts, even if it brought hours and hours of school work and classes a week. She was excited, and yet, nervous that this was her last year. Hogwarts had become familiar and so much a part of her life. She would miss it, as well as spending every day with her two best friends.

Lily heard the door slide open and turned to the entrance to the compartment. She let out an excited squeal and launched herself at Aspen, barely giving her friend time to drop the trunk to receive the hug.

"Aspen! I missed you so much."

Glancing over her friends shoulder, Lily smiled at the black haired man that stood holding the other side of the recently forgotten trunk, chuckling at them.

"Hi, Mr. Willowman. What do you think you are doing keeping Aspen away from me for so long?", she playfully accused, pulling away from Aspen and placing a hand on her cocked hip.

"Blame the traffic." Aspen's father said, putting his daughter's trunk away.

"Or my father's inability to grasp the concept of Muggle vehicles!" Aspen mumbled under her breath. She came from a family of Pureblood witches and wizards, which meant that Kieran Willowman never drove a car except for twice a year when he needed to drop off and pick up Aspen from Platform 9 and ¾.

"What was that honey?" Kieran asked, starring at his daughter suspiciously.

"Nothing daddy," Aspen replied, quickly hugging her father in such a way that Lily could see the wink directed towards her.

Lily laughed, but quickly turned it into a cough as Aspen's father turned to give her a look that clearly said he thought that she was being strange.

"Well, I best be on my way." He said, exiting the compartment, but pausing for a moment to look back. "May take me forever to get home, with the lack of concept for Muggle vehicle's and all."

He left, and Aspen and Lily turned to face each other. They just stared, and after a moment of complete silence, they burst into giggles.

"You're lucky," Lily said, staring at Aspen enviously. "If I ever insulted Petunia like that, she would decapitate me, and she doesn't even have a license. Her "stick-up-his-ass" fiance drives her everywhere."

Aspen laughed.

"Well, after narrowly missing hitting other cars ten times, turning the wrong way five times, and consistently mistaking which peddle accelerates or stops the car, I think he is willing to accept he has less than sufficient skills. If he doesn't accept that jokes will occur, he would cry." She smiled, her voice full of sarcasm.

"I can't imagine your dad crying." Lily said with a smirk.

"You haven't seen his driving." Aspen cried, feigning horror.

Lily smiled at her friend, and felt the slight tug at her heart as she tried to push aside the thought that this year would be the last year she, Aspen, and Tatem would spend together. She didn't want to give up the late nights sitting on their beds, talking for hours on end, the Christmas break snowball fights with hot cocoa and chili in the Gryffindor common room, and the trips to Hogsmeade where they bought bags full of candy to eat on Friday nights while discussing the attractive boys in the school, or complaining about the Marauders latest antics. These memories, amongst many others were dear to Lily's heart and she didn't want it to end.

The girls always had each other to rely on and depend on. They had a bond that far exceeded the bonds they saw with other girls, or even in the relationships around them at the school. Over the past few years, Aspen and Lily had both had a couple of boyfriends, none of which they were serious about, and none of who had done more then kissed them. Tatem, however, hadn't had one, her nervous habit of stuttering deterring male attention from even the kindest classmates.

Lily felt her face grow hot. It made her angry that the boys that went to their school couldn't possess the maturity to try and push past a person's defect. Tatem was by no means ugly; none of them were, yet the only person who showed consistent interest in any of them was James Potter.

Lily cringed.

James Potter was part of the famous quartet that was the Marauders. The favorite past time of the particular group was playing pranks on the student population, more often then not, the Slytherins, and causing all sorts of other havoc, including wooing a large portion of Hogwarts female population. James in particular had decided that his favorite past time was harassing Lily with constant teasing and the never ending requests that she agree to go out with him.

Lily frowned. As if she wanted to be another Potter groupie. He was handsome enough with black hair that fell into his blue eye, and a muscular body from years of Quidditch, but his ego was bigger than his muscles and he had the maturity of a nine-year old boy.

Lily found her thoughts interrupted, as she and Aspen heard laughter down the train, followed by the stammered demand of a voice they knew by heart.

"B-black, L-leave me alone."

They met each other's eyes briefly and then sprinted into the aisle, quickly surveying the situation ahead of them.

Regulus Black and Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Severus Snape, and Narcissa Black stood blocking the train aisle. Tatem couldn't get past them to the compartment.

"W-what d-did you ask? I c-couldn't understand your stuttering." Regulus harrassed, smirking down at Tatem cruelly. Tatem just stared at her feet, unwilling to meet the eyes of her

bullies.

"Leave her alone," Aspen shouted as Lily and her ran down the short distance to where Tatem was.

The Slytherins turned around and smirked at the two girls who stood glaring at them.

"And what are you going to do about it? It isn't our fault the scared kitten here," Narcissa motioned at Tatem. "betrays her heritage by associating with the likes of you. She comes from a long line of Slytherins, Purebloods that deserve to be at Hogwarts." She stared pointedly at Lily and stepped forward challengingly.

"Rearranging your face sounds tempting." Aspen replied with false sweetness, pulling her wand out of her pocket. "But then again, that would be an improvement for you."

Not a violent person by nature, Aspen made an exception when it came to defending Tatem.

"You could try," Lucius scoffed, putting an arm protectively around his girlfriend. "But the odds are against you seeing as it is five against three."

Aspen laughed.

"You are speaking to the 3 highest scoring female students that Hogwarts has seen in five years. I'd seriously be interested to see where who imbeciles rate on that scale."

"Oh and that does include Defense Against the Dark Arts, in case you want to get you head out of your ass long enough to realize you have a reason to take those odds seriously." Lily added smugly.

"I know a few spells that are effective enough against Gryffindor geeks." Bellatrix replied, pulling her wand free.

Snape let out a laugh, and when everyone gave him a strange look, he chose to stare at his feet with the brief comment of "Good one Bellatrix."

Ignoring the odd behavior of the Slytherin boy who obviously didn't quite fit into the group, Aspen smiled at Bellatrix in a mocking way.

"Better a Gryffindor geek then a Slytherin slut." she retaliated, beginning to raise her wand in the air.

Lily quickly put a hand on her friends arm, smiling knowingly at the group ahead of her.

"It's not very wise to threaten the Head Girl. It would only be too tempting to give you a weeks detention as soon as the school year begins."

This hit its mark. The Slytherins let out an audible groan and glared at her.

"I should have known that Dumbledweeb would chose little miss perfect goody-two shoes to be head girl." Regulus hissed, motioning with his hand that the others should start to leave.

"What can I say," Lily replied. "The man can use common sense."

With a final glare, Regulus followed the Slytherins that had already left. The only one that remained behind was Bellatrix. She stared at Lily with obvious hatred. Turning to leave, she paused for a second and faced back at Lily, who met her eyes unwavering.

With a smirk, Bellatrix spoke.

"You won't be Head Girl forever, Mudblood, and I can't wait for that day when you'll be in the gutter where you belong."

"You're right," Lily replied with a smirk. "I won't be Head Girl forever, but you on the other hand will always be a incompetent, pathetic, bullying bitch that's more bark then bite."

With one last glare, Bellatrix pushed past Tatem, forcing her to step to the side to get out of the way, and down the hallway to where the other Slytherins stood waiting for her.

Tatem, Aspen, and Lily starred at each other until the group had disappeared, then let out shouts of happiness jumping together and forming a three-way hug.

"Oh my God, I've missed you so much!"

"Tatem!"

"Aspen!"

"Lily!"

"Why do both of you get here so close to when the train leaves?"

"I can't believe you said that to Bellatrix!"

"Lily you're Head Girl!"

The last comment was directed towards Lily from both girls.

Lily looked back and forth between the two girls who were giving her accusing looks that clearly said "Why's you not tell us sooner?"

"Surprise!" she said, attempting to sound sorry, but really just too thrilled to see her friends to be convincing.

They both stared at her in accusatory ways, acting as if they were actually upset with her. However, that persona didn't last long and soon they were congratulating her all the same.

After a number of hugs had been exchanged, the girls finally hauled Tatem's trunk into the compartment and settled into their seats as the last horn sounded on the train, signaling that they were going to begin the trip.

The girls settled into an easy conversation as Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station and began the journey to Hogwarts.

"So," Tatem, who sat crossed legged, asked, pulling her blond wavy hair into a messy bun to keep it out of her face. "Who is Head Boy this year?"

Lily finished chewing a chocolate frog, a recent purchase along with many more the girls had made and sat eating while talking.

"I'm not sure." she said, with a slight thoughtful frown. "I really hope it is Remus or Tyler. They were both great prefects, and I know Michael isn't Head Boy because he helped my carry my trunk to the compartment and he didn't mention it to me. Then again I didn't tell him I was Head Girl either, so maybe it is him."

Aspen let out a small laugh, and the other two girls turned to stare at her curiously.

"I was just thinking how funny it would be if Snape became Head Boy."

Tatem began to laugh as well and Lily groaned. There had been a time when Lily had helped Snape out from one of the Marauders pranks, and he had taken that to mean she enjoyed his company, which wasn't true.

Tatem, however, saved Lily from stressing over it too much by pointing out that he hadn't mentioned being Head Boy when the Slytherins weren't leaving her alone and it would have been the natural response to retaliate Lily's claim to being Head Girl.

"Plus," she said with a smile. "Dumbledore would have to be daft to chose Snape."

Lily nodded, feeling better.

"The only worse choice would be James," she stated, letting out a shudder at the very thought of it.

Aspen chuckled.

"Sure he would choice James... if he wanted you to be wanted for murder by Christmas break. Would that even be possible? I thought that Head Boys had to be Prefects first."

Tatem shook her head.

"Nope," she responded. "It has happened before. There was our third year with Emmet Parkerway as Head Boy, and then our fifth year Emily Wellby became Head Girl. Neither of them were Prefects first."

Lily let out a slight moan.

"Can we not actually talk about this?" she asked, mortified at the possibility. "That would be...Ugh."

Both Tatem and Aspen giggled at Lily's reaction, and soon, unable to help herself, she had joined in.

Finally, after a couple of minutes of chuckling and wiping tears of laughter away, Lily glanced at her watch.

"Speaking of Head Boy, it looks like I am about to find out just who Dumbledore decided on. I have a Prefect meeting in fifteen minutes, and its at the very front of the train."

Standing up, Lily grabbed her badge from her pocket, and quickly changed into her robes, thanks to Tatem charming a blanket to hang in front of the compartment door until she was done for privacy.

Then with a quick exchange of good-byes and see-you-soons from her friends, she left the compartment and started to walk to the front of the train, managing one last glare at Aspen's comment of "Say hi to James for us."

It took about ten minutes to make her way across the train, briefly greeting the people she recognized or knew from classes who were walking in the aisles. Finally, she arrived with minutes to spare and a quick survey told her that most people had arrived. None of the male seventh year students had a Head Boy badge on, so she just rested at the seat at the head of the car and waited.

Within minutes she heard the door open and saw Remus enter. She stood up to greet him, and frowned as she saw he had a Prefect badge pinned to his cloak. Her frowned deepened more when she realized that entering behind him was none other then James Potter.

Ignoring Remus, who she had originally planned on greeting, she turned right to James, staring up into blue eyes that she found to be frustratingly stunning. He stared back at her with a smile on his face, finding obvious amusement in Lily's anger.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her glossy auburn hair falling back from her face, and her deep emerald-colored eyes glaring up at James.

His smile intensified, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out, to Lily's horror, a Head Boy badge.

"Didn't you hear? I'm Head Boy."


	2. Chapter 2 Meeting in the Bathroom

Disclaimer: I am not J.. Anything relating to Hogwarts or the magical world is more than likely hers. I only invented a couple characters here and there, but again, most of the characters in the story J K Rowling invented.

Chapter Two- Meeting in the Bathroom

"...And then," Lily ranted to Aspen and Tatem, pacing their compartment back and forth in frustration. "He pulled out a badge and announced that Dumbledore had made him Head Boy."

"What!" Aspen and Tatem both exclaimed in shock.

"I thought that was just a mean joke we were making up to tease you. I never thought it would actually happen." Aspen said, shock and amusement playing equal parts on her facial features.

Tatem, her own lips curling into a smile, nodded and spoke.

"Lily, if you do not stop pacing like that you are going to wear a hole into the floor of the train and won't have to worry about James being Head Boy anymore." She paused as Lily gave her a look that implied that falling through the floor to her death would be better then the current situation. With a laugh, Tatem continued. "Despite what you might feel right now, death is not the answer. Plus, Argyle is scared of almost being trampled." She pointed to the white fluffy cat who hid under Lily's seat, his hair on end.

"It just doesn't make sense," Lily cried, still walking around restlessly.

"Dumbledore must have had a reason for making him Head Boy, and I'm sure it isn't that he would like to see the Head Boy without a head." Tatem smirked.

Lily stopped pacing and frowned.

"I'm not so sure about that. Why else would he decide on a Head Boy that spent his whole discussion to the Prefects telling them how much he wants to make Hogwarts more fun by having more dances and house competition days, with various yard games. Then, of course, how great Quidditch is, so we should think about having fund-raisers in Hogsmeade to raise money for the respective houses to buy better gear. Can you imagine Quidditch players having a bake sale?"

Lily said all if this very quickly, and had to take a deep breath before continuing, ignoring Aspen's comment of "No, I think he would just use his groupies for that."

"So, of course, everyone was thrilled with that idea, and were almost entirely ignoring my ideas for perfecting the Prefects patrolling routes and time schedules, to more effectively encourage that students to follow school curfews, or to plan meals with more energy enriching foods, so that less students feel the need to skip morning classes. They all were way more excited at the prospect of more Hogsmeade trips in a year."

Lily finished her tirade, and collapsed, looking defeated, on the seat next to Argyle, who had just jumped up there and stared at her cautiously, as if she might begin sporadically moving again.

"Well, I wouldn't argue with more trips to Hogsmeade," Aspen said, receiving a glare from Lily. "But, I do think that you guys will be able to work together to figure out things that work for the both of you. I mean his ideas do interest everyone else, so they aren't too far-fetched, while yours focus on bettering the student cooperation to the schools guidelines. I think with a little effort and input from both of you, a general consensus could be reached that would make both you guys, and the Prefects happy."

Lily just groaned, letting her head fall into her hands.

"Well," Tatem said, raising herself off her seat. "On that note, I think I will go to the bathroom and change into my school clothes. We only have about an hour before we get to Hogwarts."

Lily just continued to moan, looking down at the floor.

"Aspen, did you want to come?" Tatem asked, but Aspen shook her head with a slight smile.

"I think I better stay here in case Lily decides the railroad tracks don't look too bad after all." Aspen cringed at the look Lily shot her way.

Tatem laughed and left the compartment, shutting the door behind her. The bathrooms were in the middle of the train, but luckily she managed not to run into any Slytherins on the way to the bathroom.

She quickly changed into her Gryffindor colored sweater and tie, slipping her cloak on over the tight fitting top. It had been her fourth year when her parents had last bought her new clothes. They had begun to ignore her when it became apparent to them that not only was she in Gryffindor, where as they had been in Slytherin, but also that Tatem had no intention of joining in You-Know-Who's side in the up and coming war. On top of that, their daughter had the "humiliating" habit of stuttering. With no source of income herself, and too proud to ask Aspen or Lily for help, Tatem dealt with the tight fitting top, using her cloak to cover the way it stretched over her larger then average bosom and showed her stomach.

Once her cloak was in place, Tatem shyly glanced at herself in the mirror. Her room at her parent's house had no mirror, and except to give her a meal a day, they kept her locked in her room all summer. She always found herself curious to see if she had changed over the months away from school.

The reflection in the mirror showed a petite young lady starring back. Long blond waves fell to her mid-back, and framed her heart-shaped face. Large blue eyes starred back at her, and her small pink lips were slightly furrowed in a frown, unsure of what to make of her image.

A door opened, and Tatem quickly looked away from the mirror, grabbing her bag of discarded clothing and looking at the floor. She began to walk towards the exit to the restroom, expecting the person who entered to avoid her as others usually did, but instead she found herself flying through the air as she ran into a strong, firm chest that definitely didn't to another women.

Tatem shut her eyes, preparing for the impact of her bottom hitting the bathroom floor, but it never came. Instead, she felt a large, masculine hand catch hers and pull her up, back into the muscular body that had caused her to stumble in the first place. She managed to place her hands up in front of her so her face didn't hit the man's shoulder. Instead, Tatem realized her hands were resting, rather intimately on the firm abdominal muscles of the unknown male, and a blush heated her face as she looked up into smiling brown eyes.

With a slight start, she realized that the face staring down at her with a friendly grin, was none other then one of James Potter's best friends, Sirius Black. He had dark hair that fell to just below his ears in an appealing, partially messy manner, and a charming smile that had helped him in more then one case to talk his way out of getting into trouble.

"Um, hi," he said, starring amusingly down at her hands, which still rested on his stomach.

Tatem felt her face grow even hotter, if possible, as she realized her hands had been resting there for a while longer then normal for one catching themselves.

"I'm s-sorry," she cried out, lifting her hands and turning around so that he couldn't see her embarrassed expression any longer then he already had. "I d-didn't think I we-went in the wrong ba-bathroom."

Tatem swallowed hard, feeling tears well at the rims of her eyes as she heard Sirius begin to chuckle. She knew she should have grow used to people laughing at her stuttering by now, but for some reason if bothered her more that such an attractive man laughed at her this time.

"You aren't the one in the wrong bathroom," Sirius said, walking around to again stand in front of Tatem. Her eyes were glued to the floor, she was too afraid he would see the unshod tears, to be able to meet his eyes.

" I had to use the ladies room as a hide away. The Slytherins were not too happy when I charmed their candy to explode in their faces, and unfortunately I think the odds were against me, six to one. I should be the one apologizing for nearly bowling you over. I was too busy looking over my shoulder."

"Oh." Tatem responded stupidly, unsure of what else to say. She found it hard to believe, but the way Sirius talked to her, it seemed that he hadn't been laughing at her at all, but rather himself.

"I'm Sirius Black by the way." he continued, kind enough to not mention her short response.

"I k-know." Tatem replied, moving her eyes form his black shoes, up to his toned calves, but still too shy to look into his gaze, which was sure to be sweet if it matched the tone of his voice.

"You do?" he asked.

She nodded, then feeling that the question required more of an explanation, she swallowed the lump in her throat, caused by her fear of stuttering in front of Sirius, and spoke.

"I am Lily Evans, be-best f-friend." She paused, willing herself to stay calm and collected. "She talks about the Ma-marauders all the t-time. Mostly James."

Tatem smiled slightly to herself, proud that she hadn't stammered too much.

Sirius again seemed to take no notice of her nervous habit, and instead spoke to her like she was a friend of his.

"Ah yes, of course. Is it safe to say that the comments aren't often positive when she talks about James?"

Tatem's smile grew as she nodded her head, daringly bringing her eyes up to stare straight ahead. This brought her level with his chest, so she decided to focus on the Gryffindor tie that hung from his neck.

Tatem heard Sirius's voice soften as two fingers gently pushed on the bottom of her chin, raising her eyes to meet his.

"You shouldn't hide that beautiful smile and eyes like that." he said, his eyes so genuine that Tatem found her self lost in his gaze.

Just then the door rattled and they heard a voice, unmistakably that of Bellatrix, drift towards them.

Thinking surprisingly fast for how hazy her thoughts seemed to be with Sirius so close, Tatem pushed him into the nearest stall and managed to say "stand on the toilet" before closing the stall door, with her inside, behind her.

Sirius did as she asked, and waiting a second for the girls to arrive near the stall they were in, Tatem took a deep breath and exited the small room, quickly shutting the entrance into the occupied space behind her.

Bellatrix and Narcissa turned to face her, and Tatem's stomach dropped as both of the girls looked on at her, mean looking smiles gracing their faces.

"Well, well," Bellatrix smirked, following Tatem as she walked over to the sink and began to wash her hands, trying to effectively play the part of someone who had just gone to the bathroom. "If it isn't Miss Anderson. All alone this time, are we?"

"B-back off, Bellatrix-ix!" she stammered, finishing her hands and grabbing a towel to wipe the water off of them. "I would rather n-not be harr-arrassed by Miss B-bitch and Miss S-slut more then once a d-day."

"Wow," Narcissa snickered, walking to the other side of Tatem. "That would be so much more insulting if I could understand you through all the st-uttering."

Bellatrix joined in the laughter and grabbed Tatem's arm cruelly, spinning her to face them more directly.

Tatem glared at them, her eyes misting in anger and embarrassment, as she began to run her fingers over the wand in her pocket, in case things got too out of hand.

"L-leave me alone. D-don't you have some d-disgusting men to be occupied w-with right now? At least th-they can keep your mouths sh-shut." The look Tatem gave the girls made it evident exactly how she meant the men could keep the girls mouths shut.

"Quite brave of you." Bellatrix said, her own wand now pointing at Tatem's chest. "I know some rather painful, yet undamaging spells that put brave, stuttering, pathetic girls in their rightful places."

Tatem was just beginning to regret whatever unnatural courage had prompted her to stand up for herself, when a loud bang rang through the bathroom, causing all three girls to jump in surprise.

Before Tatem could even react, she felt herself pulled forward and found herself standing behind the broad shoulders of the man she had been trying to hide.

Sirius glared at the girls in front of him, angrier then they had ever seen him before, and his own wand was raised in the air.

"Cousin," Bellatrix hissed, her voice full of hatred. "What brings you to the _women's_ bathroom." Her emphasis on women's obviously implied that Sirius was unwelcome. Bellatrix then looked at Tatem behind Sirius's body.

"For the matter, what are you doing with _her_ in a stall in the women's bathroom." She snickered.

"Don't call me cousin," Sirius replied cooly. "Any relationship to you is seriously misfortune and embarrassing. I would never want to associate myself with the likes of you. People who think it is okay to pick on others for something they can't help are not my fucking family."

"Well isn't that nice," Narcissa chimed in, her voice thick with false sweetness. "Sirius Black, defender of the weak and unwanted. Bellatrix and I were just looking for you. I think Regulus will be happy to know we found you." Her voice portrayed confidence, but she glanced nervously at Sirius's wand and Bellatrix, pointedly implying they should leave the company of the infuriated man.

Bellatrix looked between Narcissa and Sirius, seeming to be indecisive. Finally, she put away her wand, and began to walk to the door.

"You're right Narcissa. Regulus will be very happy when we tell him where to look for his dear brother. Plus, it will be fun to tell everyone how we found Sirius and T-Tatem alone in the bathroom together.

The girls disappeared out the door and Sirius turned around to find Tatem smiling slightly.

"What's so amusing?" he asked, finding his own lips curling up, unable to help himself, though he still felt like he was on fire, with the anger that bubbled in him from the Slytherins comments to Tatem.

"Its just that Lily was right." she said, shyly meeting his eyes with her own sparkling blue ones. "She's more bark than she is bite."

Sirius let out a laugh, and then stared curiously at the girl that stood before him.

She was beautiful and shy, and completely unlike any girl he had seen before. He was amazed he had never noticed the brilliant smile of hers in the hallway or in their classes.

"Hey," he spoke gently, softly brushing aside a strand of strawberry blond hair that had fallen into her face, and tucking it behind her ear. "You didn't stammer at all when you talked to me this time."

Tatem's face grew pink at his touch, and slightly warmer when he pointed out her clear speech.

"I don't really stammer around people I can trust."

"How do you know you can trust me?" he asked, keeping his voice low, and taking her hand that rested at her side in his, turning it palm up.

He traced the lines on her hand and Tatem felt faint.

"I guess I don't," she replied in a whisper, it was all the volume she could manage. "But I know now that you won't judge me on my stammering, and that is all the trust I need to feel comfortable enough, not to feel too ner-nervous."

He had moved from her hand to her wrist, outlining the vein there, causing her heart to pick up its pace.

Sirius smiled down at her, pleased to know he had made her nervous, but apparently not in a bad way.

Tatem quickly pulled her wrist away as she heard the door open again to the ladies room. She moaned expecting to see the Slytherin girls returning with the rest of their group, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Lily and Aspen come around the corner. Relief was soon replaced by embarrassment as she realized she was standing in the women's restroom with none other then Sirius Black, a man with a reputation for being an enormous flirt and a talented bed-partner.

"Tatem are you in he..." Aspen trailed off and stopped moving as she took in the scene in front of her. Lily, unprepared for the sudden stop, ran right into her and they both fell to the ground in a heap.

"Oh," Tatem said quietly as she ran over to her friends and helped them to their feet.

Lily brushed off her cloak then opened her mouth to scold Aspen for stopping.

"Aspen, what the hell was that for..."

She too lost her train of thought as she noticed that Sirius stood four feet away looking very entertained at the events that were occurring in front of him.

Tatem, quickly averted her eyes to the ceiling as her friends turned to her with piercing stares, trying to visual interrogate her into explaining what was going on. The silence grew longer as her checks grew hotter, Sirius the whole time silently chuckling. Finally, Tatem couldn't take the scrutiny any more, and she turned to Lily and Aspen.

"Look, I will explain things later okay? Can we go now?" She exclaimed, meeting their eyes pleadingly, and nervously casting Sirius a glance out of the corner of her eye.

Lily and Aspen looked at each other and then with a cautious nod turned to leave the bathroom.

"I will be right out." Tatem said, turning back towards Sirius. Slowly, she walked over to him with her gaze on the ground. She stopped in front of him, and after taking a deep breath, looked up and stared into the eyes that wouldn't stop smiling down at her.

Tatem found herself lost in the depths for a moment, before she gently shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Thank you." she spoke in a whisper, just enough for the two of them to hear. With those words spoken, she turned away and softly, but briskly walked away, pausing only to grab a bag of clothes she must have dropped when she had almost fallen. As she stood up though, she glanced at Sirius through her blond locks and blushed when he raised an eyebrow at her teasingly.

Sirius found himself staring at the spot for a number of minutes, his thoughts full with thinking of the golden haired beauty that had a smile like sunshine and more kindness then he had seen in a while. _Tatem Anderson_ he thought fondly. He wasn't going to forget that name any time soon.


End file.
